The invention relates to a method of manufacturing a thin film of an oxidic superconducting material in accordance with a pattern.
In an article by M. G. Blamire a.o., in J. Phys. D: Appl. Physics 20, pages 1330-1335 (1987) a description is given of a method in which a thin film of YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.7-8 is applied to a substrate of aluminum oxide by means of magnetron sputtering, an intermediate layer of yttrium oxide being interposed. Conductor tracks having a width of 100 .mu.m are formed in the thin film by means of a mechanical milling operation. This method has been selected to avoid having the thin film contacting aqueous solutions and because conventional etching techniques in which use is made of a reactive plasma are not available.
This known method has the disadvantage that patterns having small line widths, for example smaller than 10 .mu.m, cannot be accurately manufactured by means of mechanical milling.